I listened to this book while at work today, and on my way home. OOH WEE... HOT HOT HOT! It was a hot read I enjoyed a lot. Again another one of my quick mini reviews, but if you like hot alpha males who are protective and caring then you will love Logan's story!

I am curious about his brother and hope he is the next in line for a story.... I may start Master Raoul's book from the Shadowland series first, but we shall see! Happy Reading all!

Ella Boudreaux tells her tale of one failed attempt after another at finding and holding on to a job. Her mouth and chatty ways seems to have something to do with it. One summer, her friend, Jen, and her decide to give barnacle removal a try at a Louisiana marine. Ella is in for a surprise!

This was a fun short story about a woman trying to figure out her place in this world. She’s comfortable with trial and error, which is good since finding her true calling didn’t come easy. Chatty and friendly, her words can stray into the realm of nagging. But never fear, there is actually very little of that in this tale, so the reader doesn’t weary of the main character.

For those who like a touch of romance, there is Charlie, who is Captain Jack’s son. Captain Jack runs the marina and is quite attached to the old way of running things. His son has new ideas, but the two of them could come to rough words over them.

I can see the author continuing on with Ella. She was very likable and I believe she definitely has the penchant to get into the thick of things. That would make her an exciting center for mysteries or mayhem. If you’re looking for great little tale to keep you company over lunch, then this is worth your time!

The Narration: Martz, who also narrates Venkataraman’s Jamie Quinn mysteries, was great as Ella. She was able to put her southern drawl to good use in this Louisiana story. She also had great voices for Charlie and Captain Jack. Another great performance!

"It's spooning. You said it was just sex. No spooning. We fuck, we have fun, you go home. That's the deal." ~ Jocelyn

"We fuck, we have fun, and then we spoon. I don't go home. I don't go home b/c sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up, and when I wake up I want to fuck. And for some baffling reason, the person I want to fuck is you."~ Braden

This short story was ok, but definitely took a bit of work to get through. I think that there is a good story idea inside the pages, but there was more trying to be done with the story that got in the way.

Despite what can be found in the description of this story, it’s not a first person point of view, well, not exactly. It’s a mixture of first person with some second person (the narrator talks to the reader) thrown in every now and then. 2nd person is fine, when used correctly. And I’m not even saying it’s not used correctly here, but the story as a hold is disjointed and not well established. What I gathered reading this, is that the narrator, Ella, is recalling how she met her husband. But she also starts off by listing her past jobs, which didn’t hold much interest for me because it didn’t tie into the later half. It just served to show that it took a bit to find her way in life, but in a long-winded way.

The switch between the “present” where the narrator is typing up the story for the reader, with her husband apparently looking over her shoulder, and the story itself (how they met) could have been a great addition to the story. But as I said, I don’t feel it was established well.

My bottom line with If You’d Just Listened to Me in the First Place is that while the title is a little awkward to read, the sentences inside the pages don’t reflect it. The words are well-written enough, the story itself wasn’t up to par for me. But there’s a story here I found hope for.

This short story was ok, but definitely took a bit of work to get through. I think that there is a good story idea inside the pages, but there was more trying to be done with the story that got in the way.

Despite what can be found in the description of this story, it’s not a first person point of view, well, not exactly. It’s a mixture of first person with some second person (the narrator talks to the reader) thrown in every now and then. 2nd person is fine, when used correctly. And I’m not even saying it’s not used correctly here, but the story as a hold is disjointed and not well established. What I gathered reading this, is that the narrator, Ella, is recalling how she met her husband. But she also starts off by listing her past jobs, which didn’t hold much interest for me because it didn’t tie into the later half. It just served to show that it took a bit to find her way in life, but in a long-winded way.

The switch between the “present” where the narrator is typing up the story for the reader, with her husband apparently looking over her shoulder, and the story itself (how they met) could have been a great addition to the story. But as I said, I don’t feel it was established well.

My bottom line with If You’d Just Listened to Me in the First Place is that while the title is a little awkward to read, the sentences inside the pages don’t reflect it. The words are well-written enough, the story itself wasn’t up to par for me. But there’s a story here I found hope for.

Important: Our sites use cookies.
We use the information stored using cookies and similar technologies for advertising and statistics purposes.
Stored data allow us to tailor the websites to individual user's interests.
Cookies may be also used by third parties cooperating with BookLikes, like advertisers, research companies and providers of multimedia applications.
You can choose how cookies are handled by your device via your browser settings.
If you choose not to receive cookies at any time, BookLikes will not function properly and certain services will not be provided.
For more information, please go to our Privacy Policy.